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Scotland says No as Catalans watch

A historic turnout of 84% keeps Scotland in the United Kingdom with the promise of more devolved powers [The Scotsman | Scottish independence: Scotland votes No]. The referendum campaign and results have been watched closely by Catalans and their media, seeing the issue as a potential precedent for Catalonia’s own secession process. The Catalan president Artur Mas reacted today with a press conference in which he told a large group of local and foreign journalists that Scotland is “an example to be followed” and “the only way to solve the conflict”.

El Punt Avui | Mas after Scotland’s No: “We feel reinforced, and the Catalan process goes on” [Catalan]
“The Scottish referendum does not in any way cast a shadow on the Catalan process. There has been a vote in Scotland, and this is the way. In Catalonia the process continues, and gets reinforced by Scotland’s democracy lesson”. “We just need respect and democratic sense” from the Spanish government, Mas complained, and he considered that the government’s “grave mistake” is to “block a political process from a purely legal perspective”.

Also The Guardian analysed the events in Scotland under a Catalan perspective:

The Guardian | Catalan pro-independence campaigners persevere despite Scottish result
The takeaway message was the fact that a referendum had taken place. “The main point for us is that the Scots have been able to vote and express their will collectively for their future. Whether they voted yes or no, that would have been all right,” he said. “What we really feel is envy about the possibility of voting. This is what we are fighting for.”